WASHINGTON, DC: The National Space Society hails the formal
announcement of NASA's Exploration System architecture, setting out
the agency's exploration plans for the next two decades.

"We are going back to the Moon and on to Mars with a plan that
the nation can afford," said George T. Whitesides, Executive
Director of NSS.

Under the plan, the first new moon landing will take place in
2018, with startup of a lunar outpost in 2022. Ultimately, NASA
envisions crews stationed at the outpost for up to several months.
Exploration of Mars could and should follow the establishment of
the lunar outpost.

"The Exploration Architecture is a strategic starting point
which will evolve as the engineering, organizational, and political
challenges are addressed," said Gary Barnhard, Chairman of the NSS
Executive Committee. "NSS looks forward to working with NASA and
the many other organizations, companies, and agencies whose
collaborative efforts will take this journey forward."

The new architecture plans for the establishment of an
infrastructure for space exploration, built around the core of the
Crew Exploration Vehicle, with plans for In-Situ Resource
Utilization and a set of common modular connectors between all
vehicles. It also enables human exploration of the lunar poles for
the first time, where reserves of frozen water may be located.

"This new plan is the real start of settlement of our solar
system," said Whitesides. "It also opens the exciting possibility
that the US will put the first woman on the Moon in 2018, a
milestone which would underscore the motivational importance of
this plan to our nation's youth."

The new strategy is budgeted to fit within NASA's current plans
for exploration funding. It will take advantage of the potential
cost-savings of commercial innovation and entrepreneurial activity.
With explicit plans for entrepreneurs, the architecture sets NASA's
policy to prefer commercial services for launch of crew and cargo
to the International Space Station, if private companies can
affordably meet NASA requirements. The society believes that this
new direction for NASA is critical to the ultimate success of the
Vision and must be maintained.

"Administrator Griffin has stated that NASA is baselining
commercial service to ISS in the out years of this plan, with the
preference to keep NASA at the far frontier," said Whitesides. "We
believe that this direction is the right approach and will maximize
the resources of our nation."

NSS strongly supports the new architecture and will soon begin a
new campaign of public education and advocacy to build support
among the American public.

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About the National Space Society

The National Space Society (NSS) is an independent, grassroots
organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring
civilization. Founded in 1974, NSS is widely acknowledged as the
preeminent citizen's voice on space. NSS counts thousands of
members and over 50 chapters in the United States and around the
world. The society also publishes Ad Astra magazine, an
award-winning periodical chronicling the most important
developments in space. For more information about NSS, how to join
or donate, or the annual International Space Development
Conference, visit: http://www.nss.org